


A Study in Black and White

by Ninjinnji



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Artistic liberties are taken with how the imposters disguise themselves, Canon-Typical Violence, Deaf Character, F/F, Nonbinary Character, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:55:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 15,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjinnji/pseuds/Ninjinnji
Summary: Every week puts White on a new starship with a new crew. Very rarely are they ever suspected of being the imposter they actually are.Their latest job has them signed on to a ship called the Skeld and there’s something about the medical officer that’s pulling their attention away from their gruesome task.What exactly is it about Black that makes him so interesting?
Relationships: Black & Brown (Among Us), Black/White (Among Us), Crewmate & Crewmate (Among Us), Crewmate/Crewmate (Among Us), Crewmate/Imposter (Among Us), Pink/Brown (Among Us)
Comments: 129
Kudos: 413





	1. Launch Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paired with a set of incompetents for their current mission, White is going to do their best to make it through this job alive and victorious. Their first steps are to ingratiate themselves to the captain and her seemingly airheaded medical officer, Black.

_Loading Bay – White_

At this point in their career, putting on a human’s spacesuit was easier than remembering to breathe like one. What had been a learning curve was figuring out what humans generally looked like underneath the formless attire. They’d peeled several of their targets out of the unwieldy suits for observation but shapeshifting to appear like a human hadn’t clicked until they’d snatched a diagram from one of the medics.

White could proudly say they could even mimic most of a human’s internal organ structure (not that their superiors were asking). The main point they’d argued last debriefing was that wearing a suit and mimicking a suit were two very different things. That mission had been a disaster; both of the other imposters had been caught and shoved out the airlock because they weren’t wearing suits and the ship’s observant security guard had a penchant for fashion. White had been forced to finish the job on their own, only remaining undetected because they’d realized early on that suits were not part of a human’s body.

Unfortunately, their superiors hadn’t thought to heed a veteran imposter’s advice and now White was getting sent onto the _Skeld_ with another set of coworkers that couldn’t tell the difference between fabric and flesh. The only bright side was that if Cyan and Lime were caught, White would be in the clear simply because they weren’t a bag full of teeth masquerading as clothing. It was so much easier to get close enough for a kill when the crewmembers trusted them unconditionally.

Lime walked out of the locker room behind them, heading towards the loading bay.

“You forgot the pull tags on your zippers,” White droned. The other imposter flinched, and pull tags popped into existence. Holding down what humans referred to as a sigh, they let Lime pass without commenting that the tags were the wrong shape. The rookie would probably get themselves caught after their first kill anyway.

Cyan at least had half a functional cortex and would last longer, since they’d actually looked at the tags on White’s suit for reference before meandering out to join the rest of the crew. The light blue imposter had been under their supervision frequently over the last year and was well on their way to becoming a veteran like White…provided they kept their temper in line. Meeting their end after an aggressive outburst wouldn’t be a surprise for someone like Cyan, and they half expected the junior agent would pick a fight with them for “assimilating” too much.

Turning their attention back to the mirror, White reviewed their standard disguise one last time. They’d gotten so used to thinking of themselves in this form that it was almost effortless to maintain, but they still checked it for errors before boarding a new ship. A tall human stared back at them, pale haired and masculine in appearance. The only facial qualities White had made a point of retaining were the structure of their eyes and mouth – the human equivalents were either useless in the dark or unsuitable for a quick kill.

Their face looked the same as it always did these days, and they bared their teeth at themselves in a “smile” before securing the helmet.

Out in the loading bay, Cyan was already attempting to mingle with the crew. Lime – the idiot – was sitting alone and already strapped in. They were a hopeless case, so White didn’t bother approaching them. It always worked out better to appear unconnected with loose cannons in their experience.

There were a few crew members standing on the other side of the bay from Cyan’s group, the light blue imposter clearly having favored the larger group to spread their influence. That was their loss; the smaller group included both the captain and the medic. White had always found their job easiest with those two crewmembers unwittingly backing them.

Decision made, they approached the three crewmembers standing off to the side. The captain clocked their approach immediately, saying, “Hey there, White. Interesting suit color for someone working in sanitation,” in a friendly manner. The engineer had noted them instantly as well, but the medic hadn’t turned their head until the captain’s greeting. White made a note to pay attention to how they behaved around the first two and figured that they could get some leeway with the medic if they needed it.

“It’s a testament to my cleaning abilities,” they answered nonchalantly, “I assume you all go by your colors here too?”

“That’s right. Captain Pink at your service!” she said brightly, “This is Engineer Brown and my medical officer, Black.”

Brown offered a cheery, “Nice to meet you!”

Black said nothing, giving White a nod before turning their attention back to Brown. She had resumed fiddling with something on the sleeve of their suit. They were pretty sure it was a custom piece of tech, since Brown’s suit patches indicated that she mainly worked in Electrical. Good thing neither Cyan or Lime were over here; they’d try to mimic the item and get caught out for it later.

Pink, instead of starting a new conversation that included White, assessed the room and did a quick headcount before announcing that they were ready to connect to the _Skeld_. At that, every crew member scrambled for the seats to strap in. They ended up in the seat next to Black at the end of the row and was glad that they were next to the least observant of the three crewmembers they’d introduced themselves to. This part was always the worst. One misstep in the sequence and they’d all be floating in space.

Air hissed through the vents as the pressure began to equalize and White flinched involuntarily. A black glove covered their shaking hand and laced their fingers together.

“Deep breaths,” said a soft, clearly masculine voice, “This is a routine procedure and we’re going to be fine.”

That was not what they had expected Black to sound like. He kept talking quietly throughout the whole docking sequence, barely above a whisper. White wrapped their fingers around his hand like the lifeline that it was and risked a glance over at the medic. He was staring straight ahead at the door that would open to either the _Skeld’s_ cafeteria or to open space. Brown was holding Black’s other hand in a vicelike death grip. It looked painful.

As determined as Brown was to crush every bone in Black’s hand (White knew there were many needlessly small bones in the appendage; it had taken them a few weeks to get the configuration correct), he was handling it admirably. There wasn’t even a lull in the monotony he was spouting about the loading process. They were…suitably impressed.

Before they knew it, the lights on the other side of the room flickered green. Sliding open, the door revealed the communal eating area of the _Skeld_. Black had been right; everything had gone well. Not that they’d have been able to tell from the way Brown bolted out of her restraints and skittered into the ship. The rest of the crew followed her in at a more reasonable pace.

Black squeezed their hand before standing himself. White didn’t let go of his hand and the medic stopped short when he realized their fingers were still intertwined.

“Is everything alright, White?” he asked. _Oh. Oh right._ White’s hand went limp and slipped from Black’s as they lurched to their feet.

“Yeah,” they stammered, “yeah…yeah everything’s fine.”

“Ok…if you need me for anything, I’ll be in the med bay,” Black said, “Brown usually comes by if the jitters don’t stop; you’re welcome to visit me as well.”

White was the last one out of the loading bay because they’d just stood there and watched Black walk away like a starstruck rookie. Pink gave them a long look and then glanced at the hallway they were staring at before she laughed and closed the _Skeld’s_ hatch. She was still laughing as she walked the opposite direction towards Navigation.

Maybe…maybe their initial assessment on Black was inaccurate.

They needed more data.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm supposed to be writing the next chapter of The Distant Sunrise...but I got sucked into Among Us recently and I couldn't help myself.


	2. Med Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Skeld has begun its latest foray across the galaxy with three imposters infiltrating its crew. White has decided to take Black up on his offer to come by the med bay. They learn a few things about each other during the visit.

_Med Bay – White_

Ok…maybe their first impression of Black was still applicable.

White had decided to spend their first hour of the flight completing a circuit of the entire _Skeld_ to familiarize themselves with the layout (and the vent locations) before making their way to the med bay. They’d already been standing there for a solid 5 minutes without Black acknowledging that he knew they were there.

He was dressed in a set of dark scrubs now and White could see his suit hanging up through the doorway that lead to the medical officer’s bunk. Black’s hair was neatly combed and much to White’s curiosity, his skin wasn’t the same pale color of the humans they’d studied for their disguise. In fact, it was relatively close to the same shade as Brown’s suit, albeit lighter.

But more importantly than any interest they had in his appearance: they were being ignored.

Whatever task Black was doing at the computer terminal was completely absorbing his attention and their entrance hadn’t even been spared a glance. So…five minutes of awkward silence as White tried to think of a way to get the medic’s attention. They’d never initiated a conversation before that wasn’t task related and had always been content to follow the lead of human crewmates in leisurely chats. They should have taken the initiative to learn small talk earlier and then they wouldn’t have been stuck at this stand still now.

A light blinked at Black’s wrist, accompanied by a low buzzing sound. It was the electronic that Brown had been messing with in the launch bay, White realized. A communication device? Black snorted at whatever was displayed on the screen and stood, finally turning away from the desk to face them. If their presence surprised him, it wasn’t betrayed in his expression. He gave White some kind of partial baring of teeth (friendly?) and said, “I’ll be with you in a moment, White,” before walking back to his quarters.

Black’s voice was just as soft as it had been when White was sitting next to him, though still easy to hear in the mostly empty med bay. That oddly soothing, neutral voice had their mind bubbling with questions that couldn’t be answered without further analysis of the human. So many inquiries, so little information. White loved puzzles. They were definitely not killing Black first (though they weren’t sure what excuse would keep him off of Cyan or Lime’s target lists).

The medic reemerged, fitting a small device over the shell of his ear. White could see an identical one on his other ear as well. Tapping the side of the object, Black said, “Testing…testing…can you hear me, Brown?”

Brown definitely was not in the med bay with them. The wristband must be a communication device, like White had assumed, and was paired with those ear…thingies. Laughing at whatever the engineer had replied with, Black said, “I’ll keep the channel open, but White’s in here with me so I need to see what they want. Keep me posted on your progress.”

Rolling his eyes (at something else Brown said?) Black fiddled with his ear devices for a moment. Then he turned startlingly pale blue eyes on White and asked, “Still feeling nervous from loading?”

That wasn’t the reason they were feeling nervous at this given moment, but White nodded quickly. The medic pulled the desk chair away from the terminal and motioned for them to sit. They obediently seated themselves as the medic wheeled over an odd looking device with several looped wires. Hopefully he wasn’t going to poke them with anything, but the only thing he picked up from the stand was a little finger clamp.

Maybe…Black was going to hold their hand again?

A delighted thrill went through them when Black’s hand found theirs again, just like they'd hoped. White wanted to do this little experiment as many times as they could to determine the exact effects of handholding.

Then they were legitimately nervous as Black popped the seals on their glove and slid it off.

_Oh shit oh fuck what was he going to think of the clawed nails abort experiment abort–_

Black’s hand was directly on their skin.

_Warmth_. Black’s hand was _so_ warm. The claws didn’t matter as long as he kept holding their hand, because feeling his body heat was _wonderful_. They were vaguely aware of a high-pitched whine of satisfaction. Hopefully that hadn’t come from them, but in White’s defense, it had been a while. The last time they’d let someone else touch them had been years ago.

“Your hands are _really_ cold, White,” Black said, concerned voice filtering through the bliss.

_Right_. Black was staring at them with those blue blue eyes. They were in the med bay with him because they had been stupidly curious and this whole interaction fell outside of acceptable parameters for interactions with targets. Black had both his hands on their exposed skin – finger clamp forgotten – gently shifting his hands back and forth and they got even warmer. It felt _so_ nice. If Cyan or Lime barged in right this moment, there would be no salvaging the situation or their reputation.

One of their claws poked the palm of Black’s right hand. It hadn’t broken his skin, but the medic paused to look at it and White felt their pulse jump. He continued to stare at it, and then the corner of his mouth twitched, and he ran the pad of his thumb along smooth edge of the claw, pressing lightly on the sharp tip.

“Nice manicure,” he murmured appreciatively, “Pink likes to get her nails done like that when she isn’t working or dating,” and then resumed moving his hands over White’s, carefully avoiding the claws this time.

_What??_

_No, Black!_

_That is not the appropriate response to finding out that your coworker has claws!!_

White was about to voice their alarm when the lights shut off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this chapter entirely self indulgent? Absolutely.
> 
> And for those of you wondering: Brown sent a colorful text message chewing Black out for not putting in his hearing aids, and White was initially nervous because they discovered that they like Black's laugh a lot more than a murderous alien should.


	3. Lights Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black knows more than he lets on, but it’s not the first concern on his mind right now. With Brown headed to Electrical in the middle of a blackout, he’s far more worried about her safety than his own. Whatever problem White seems to pose will have to wait for another day.

_Med Bay – Black_

There was no way in hell that White wasn’t an imposter, and now Black was in a pitch-black room alone with them. They also weren’t the only one on board, because they wouldn’t have been able to cut electricity to the lights from their location. Thank God, Brown had reminded him to put in his hearing aids earlier; deaf and blind were not conducive traits to fighting off an imposter, especially one as advanced in mimicry as White clearly was.

_“Black? Are you and White ok?”_

_Other than exposing his face to an expert shapeshifter? Yeah, he was fine._

Black stood up from where he was kneeling and abruptly crashed into White, who had apparently tried to get up at the same moment. Their unnaturally cold hand pressed into his back to steady him, pinpricks of pain coming from where the claws pushed too closely through his scrubs.

“Ow. Sorry, White,” he said reflexively, before making a face at himself. Of course, he’d apologize to an imposter for bumping into them. The hand didn’t move from his back.

_“Black?”_ Brown asked again, sounding a little frantic.

“We’re fine, Brown. Just a little startled.”

_“Good,”_ she said, relief heavily coloring her voice, _“I was fixing some wires in O2, but I’m heading back to Electrical now.”_

Wrenching himself away from White in alarm, Black said firmly, “Brown. Do _not_ go to Electrical. You know what happens there when lights are out.”

_“Someone has to fix the lights, Black.”_

“Brown? Brown?!”

She didn’t answer, presumably just to be stubborn like always. Stubborn Brown was not good for anyone's longevity. Black scrambled for the edge of the desk and ended up ramming his hip on the corner. He cursed violently under his breath and felt along the wall until he found the portable first aid kit. Pulling it off, he whirled around and ran directly into White, _again_. Couldn’t the imposter stand farther away?

_Fuck it._ White hadn’t been hostile so far, and he wasn’t a priority with Brown headed to Electrical. He’d rather space himself out the airlock than let his baby sister become another dead body in that godforsaken room. And the imposter with him was going to help.

“How well do you know the ship’s layout, White?” Black barked out, voice muffled by the fabric of their suit. White’s hand flexed from where it had found the small of his back and they said, “Uh…pretty well.”

“Good,” Black answered, reaching around and seizing their bare hand with his own, shamelessly taking advantage of how they’d reacted when he’d touched them a few minutes earlier. White let out another inhumanly pleased whistle and he ordered, “You’re going to guide me to Electrical. We need to get there before Brown does.”

“Do I get to keep holding your hand?” White asked, sounding very unfocused and mildly elated. They were officially the weirdest imposter Black had ever met, but at least they proved easy to manipulate.

“Of course,” Black said, squeezing their hand and letting his voice return to the velvet lull he normally used, “I can’t see where I’m going. I need you.”

That earned him a third whistle, this one sounding distinctly loopier, and White started moving, pulling him after them. While they walked, Black made a note to somehow convince the imposter to submit to a medical scan. He had a solid theory that this specific alien had a severe susceptibility to oxytocin based on how they reacted to physical touch and in humans, that usually indicated concerningly low levels. It would be rather interesting to learn if the neurochemical functioned the same way for both of their species.

_“I’ve made it to Electrical,”_ Brown said, _“I’m going to – oh **shit**. Black, someone’s – **Fuck**! It’s an–”_

The line went dead, static filling his ears. _Not his baby sister, please not her. Anyone but her._

“White! How close are we?”

White squeezed his hand and mumbled out, “One more turn.”

A blinding light filled the hall before them, flashing violently. Black tried to let go of White’s hand to rush forward, but their fingers tightened their grip and he ended up dragging them after him. They rounded the corner and Black could barely make out Pink approaching from the other end of the hall through watering eyes. Then the light died and all he could see was the captain’s helmet flashlight.

“Brown?” he called out. The stench of burnt flesh filled the hallway and he barely made out a quiet, “Gross,” in his sister’s voice. She was still alive. _Thank God._

“White, flashlight please.”

The accommodating imposter switched their light on, and Black pushed them toward the open door to Electrical first, peeking out from behind them. Lime was lifelessly sprawled out on the floor, half charred with a belly full of teeth. An imposter of the usual kind then. Brown was slumped against the wall a few feet away from the body. Behind him, he heard Pink ask, “How the _fuck_ did you manage this, Brown?!”

She waved at them, her glove slick with something, and said, “Plugged my tazer into the wall and bypassed its output limits? The whole thing is fried now, and it toasted my wrist unit on its way out.”

How his baby sister had managed to kill a blood thirsty alien didn’t matter right now, because more importantly to Black: she was bleeding heavily. Black knelt next to her and popped open the first aid kit, pulling out some absorbent pads. He handed them off to White as Pink stepped around them to access the light panel. The overhead lights flickered back on as Black showed White where to press the pads down on Brown’s injuries. He gave her the third to press against the large gash in her side.

His sister, for her part, took one look at White’s bare left hand and gave him a pointed look. He signed back for her to _keep her mouth shut_ before pulling out one of the suturing needles and a shot of painkillers. She sighed and signed back her acceptance with her free hand before letting him get to work.

It was bloody work, like all stitches were, but once he was satisfied with the stitching on each puncture, Black had his imposter acquaintance lift Brown very gently so they could move her to a bed in the med bay. As they walked back, Pink said, “You know I’m going to have to call an emergency meeting again.”

“I know.”

“What was…White doing before all of this?” she asked, pointedly not turning to look at him.

“They were with me in the med bay,” Black answered, “This incident had nothing to do with them.”

Pink didn’t say anything else until it was time for her to split off from their little group in the cafeteria.

“Black.”

He stopped walking for a moment and turned to face her.

“I’ll let them stay as long as they don’t cause any problems. Keep an eye on them for me.”

Did she just assign him to babysit an imposter??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor White. It's already too late for them when it comes to a certain medic, and Black isn't ready to trust them. Fortunately for our fave imposter, Pink's got their back! She's sold on the idea now that she's seen them holding hands lol


	4. Emergency Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one suspects White so far, but Lime's death has put a lurch in their plans. Then an eavesdropped conversation implies that Black knows the truth. And, of course, no one is really sure what Pink is plotting.

_Med Bay - White_

Pink called an emergency meeting just after White had finished helping situate Brown in the med bay. They still felt all fuzzy and content from holding Black's hand during the blackout. The medic had to remind them to not forget their glove, which would have been a disastrous mistake. It was already bad enough that he had seen their claws, however unconcerned Black had been. Hopefully the incident with Lime would keep it out of mind.

Glove secure, White did their level best to pull their frazzled thoughts together during the short walk to the cafeteria. Unhelpfully, they were instead reminded of how delightfully steely Black's quiet voice had gone when he'd started issuing orders. But that was nothing compared to the fervent inflection of the words that followed. They could still hear that final phrase - its effect lingered; simmering under their skin.

Black was a very alluring puzzle indeed.

Pink was waiting at one of the tables, laughing at them again. No one else had joined her yet, aside from White. She cocked her head to the side and asked, "So how do you feel about Black?"

"His hands are warm," White answered, and then realized what they'd said as the captain snickered. She took a moment to compose herself and muttered, "Glad _that's_ not a concern," before straightening to look at them.

"Lucky for you, Sanitation always goes _hand in hand_ with Med Bay," she said, far too pleased with her play on words, "and now that we've got an imposter's corpse on board, I'm assigning Black to study it. He'll have lots of little projects for you to clean up once we get the body into cold storage."

White nodded along, pleased to have an excuse to lurk around Black, but they weren't sure how they felt about helping him dissect Lime. Other crew members began filtering into the cafeteria. Pink gave them a solid pat on the shoulder and said, "Get the body to him after this meeting's over," before turning her attention to the gathered crew.

"Alright, now that we're all here-"

"Not everyone's here, Captain," the O2 specialist (Red) interrupted, "We're missing three people."

"Thank you, Red. I was getting to that," she answered drily, "Lime was an imposter, and before you panic, the situation has already been resolved: they're dead."

"Are...are Black and Brown ok?" asked Yellow. The security guard looked nervous.

"They're both in the med bay. Brown was injured."

Purple, an equally anxious reactor technician, asked, "What if one of them is another imposter?"

White surprised themselves when they answered before Pink could refute the query. They could feel Cyan's glare land on them.

"They aren't."

"How do you know that?" Red shot back.

"Brown was attacked; it's not her because they don't go after their own," White retorted heatedly, "And Black was with me in the Med Bay. If he was an imposter, I'd already be dead."

Pink patted their shoulder again and added, "Black and Brown have also been my teammates for over two years. They're siblings."

White...hadn't know that, though they had picked up on the deep connection between the two. It made sense that they were nestmates. Maybe they'd brought some cute pictures White could look at?

"Furthermore," Pink continued, "while it is possible that there are two more imposters among us, no one has done anything yet that warrants an investigation. At this stage, we need only be cautious and observant."

There was a smattering of disgruntled complaints, but the crew accepted Pink's recommended course of action. Thanks to Lime jumping the gun, now all of the humans were tense and untrusting. This job would likely need an extended timeframe in order to ease the crew's fears.

Since there was nothing else they could do to diffuse the complication, White headed for the Sanitation closet after Pink ended the meeting. Not bringing Lime's body to Black would raise suspicions and they didn't need anyone to start pointing fingers. Pulling out a body bag from the closet, they checked the weight limit. It could fit Lime.

For good measure, they also wheeled out the cleaning cart. Might as well clean the floors in Electrical while they were going to be there. White had barely started pushing the cart along though, when they heard the conversation through the med bay's door.

"...with a crew this size," Pink was saying, "we'd be very lucky if there's only two."

"I'd put my money on three imposters."

That was Brown. She sounded different, like her helmet was off. Given the extent of her injuries, she probably wasn't wearing it.

"Any ideas who the third might be?" Black asked. Third? Had someone already discovered Cyan? Unless...unless he already _knew._ White had not been subtle with the hand holding. _Shit._

"None so far," Pink replied, "Keep your eyes peeled."

That sounded like the end of the conversation, so White hurriedly rattled their cart past the doorway before anyone left the room to see him hovering. They only made it halfway to the cafeteria before Pink was calling their name.

"White! Wait up!"

They stopped to allow the captain to catch up.

"Mind if I come with you to Electrical? Lime was a pretty big guy and I figured you could use the help."

"I don't mind," they answered. Pink snagged the cart and started pushing.

"Were you going to mop?" she asked. White shrugged.

"I was thinking about it."

Pink hummed thoughtfully and didn't say anything else until they passed Admin.

"So...Black."

"What about him?" White asked, genuinely confused. They had no idea where Pink was going with this.

"You two were holding hands earlier."

_How did she...right._ They vaguely recalled that Pink had been present at Electrical. The whole incident had been blurry and the majority of their limited focus had been centered on Black.

"Ok?"

She turned her head to them, somehow managing to portray disbelief on the blank visor.

"Just ok? Black never holds hands with anyone but his sister," she pointed out, "He's always too busy being a hot nerd to have time for anyone else, tragically."

"Hot nerd?" White repeated, mystified. _What did that mean?_

"Oh yeah. He's definitely a hot nerd," she continued with finality, "Even I can see the appeal and I'm a goddamn lesbian."

_Lesbian??_ Why was Pink saying so many new words?

"So yeah. Black."

Then they finally registered what she said earlier.

"He never holds anyone's hand?"

"Nope," Pink confirmed, popping the p.

"But he's-" White spluttered, "he's held mine three times!"

The captain stopped walking. Slowly, she turned to White. Had they said something wrong?

" _Three_ times?!"

_Oh._

She was pleased.

_Why was she pleased?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pink is the most unsubtle person ever and somehow White still doesn't understand.
> 
> RIP Black when Pink finds him again lmao
> 
> Edit: This chapter was originally posted from my phone, so this update was to fix a few minor grammatical errors that I missed. I promise I'm working on chapter five.


	5. 20 Questions with Brown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at medical, Brown’s recovery is interrupted by the captain and the local imposter returning with a body bag. While Pink pesters Black, Brown finds an unlikely conversationalist in White. What are their questions leading up to?

_Med Bay – Brown_

“It’s too much for me, White! You have to go on without me!”

Attention pulled away from her book, Brown looked over at the open doorway. It sounded like Pink was inflicting her melodrama on their resident imposter. Typical. She’d inconvenience anyone for anything as long as it made her laugh.

“Captain, I did offer to let you push the cart instead,” White’s voice stated placidly. Brown snorted. Pink never took the easy tasks willingly; the captain had a penchant of shouldering the most difficult burdens by choice. She glanced over at her brother as their captain issued a rather stinging and foul-mouthed barb. His hearing aids were plugged into a charger on the desk. If only she could be as willfully oblivious.

After several minutes of listening to Pink’s attempts to bicker with White (all unsuccessful), she could finally see her captain struggling with a body bag. Lime’s corpse was presumably inside. Black was still running medical inventory at the terminal. White spent a few more moments watching Pink futilely attempt to drag the bag into the room before finally stopping their indulgence of the captain and scooted it the rest of the way in.

“Hey!” Pink whined, “I was doing that!”

“You asked me to do this before the meeting,” they drawled. Pink kicked their nearest leg in far too friendly a manner (when had that happened?) before whisper-yelling, “No one needs to know that.”

“Too late,” Brown announced, setting down the novel they’d interrupted. She also signed _ears out_ to Pink with a significant look at the purposefully ignorant medic. The captain popped her helmet off, revealing her familiar dyed hair and cheeky smile. She tossed a customary wink at Brown before approaching Black to annoy him as was her wont.

Surprisingly, White drifted over to her cot. They fiddled with their gloves nervously and it was such a distinctly human gesture that it made Brown smile. She loved discovering little tics in her coworkers, and it seemed White had done extensive research on human mannerisms. According to her brother, they weren’t even remotely hostile (so far) so she was more than willing to hear the imposter out.

“I have…questions,” White admitted, “My comprehension of your language isn’t complete, and Pink said a few new words today.”

“I can absolutely help you with that!” she said, still smiling, “Why don’t you take a seat?”

White fidgeted for a few more seconds before sitting on the stool Black had left at her bedside. They tucked their hands neatly under their legs, like a little kid. Once they were comfortably situated, they said, “Pink said that you and Black are siblings. That is the same as a nestmate, right?”

“It is,” Brown answered, trying not to fawn over White. That was not a word she’d normally use to describe her brother, but the way they had said it was adorable. White let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s what I thought,” they said, “but I wasn’t sure if I was right after she put together a couple words that I thought I knew. It didn’t make any sense.”

_Oh God, Pink. Way to confuse the crewmates that speak English as a second language._

“What did she say?”

“Hot nerd?” White mumbled. Brown burst out laughing.

“Oh my god. She was talking about Black, wasn’t she.”

“Yes,” they complained, “but I still don’t know what she meant!”

_Ah, White. So innocent._ Brown had to let out a few more peals of laughter before she was able to say, “When Pink uses those two words like that, she’s talking about someone who is both intelligent and good-looking.”

“Oh,” White said quietly, “That makes a little more sense now.”

Brown gave him another smile before taking a sip from her water cup.

“Do you have any other words that you need with?”

“Just one: what is a lesbian?”

Brown had been in the middle of second sip when White said that and swallowed wrong. Hacking out a cough while White hovered and fluttered over her, she wondered exactly what their conversation with Pink had entailed. Sure, the captain was out and proud, but how did White not know about lesbianism? Sheltered much?

“Lesbians are women who are interested in other women,” she finally answered, once her throat was clear, “I’m also one, like Pink.”

White’s head tipped.

“Interested how?”

Did White also not know about romance? How did they get this old without it coming up?

“Uhh…” Brown stalled. What was the best way to explain this?

“It’s like…Oh, I know! It’s when someone makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, and you want to spend time with them. Basic explanation of romantic interest. Does that make sense?”

White nodded rapidly, and asked, “What happens when you feel that way?”

“Well,” she said sneaking a quick peek at where Pink was arguing in sign in with Black, “sometimes nothing. You can’t do anything except be friends with the other person unless they feel the same way.”

“So we wait?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “we wait.”

“Ok.”

White sat back down and tucked their hands in again, bouncing one of their legs. Brown’s eye caught the body bag again and she was abruptly reminded that White was not a crewmate learning another language. How were they so good at copying typical mannerisms? She looked back at them warily, taking another sip.

“How long do you think it will take Black to feel warm and fuzzy about me?” White asked. She choked on her water again.

_What the hell?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> White: admits to liking Black
> 
> Brown: wig snatched


	6. Mandatory Handholding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four people is too many people in Black’s med bay when two of them don’t need to be there. Unfortunately, Pink won’t leave until she makes his life more difficult than it already is. White serves as his friend’s unknowing pawn this time around.

_Med Bay – Black_

Black was _this_ close to throwing Pink out of his med bay, captaincy be damned. She wasn’t even there for official reasons. _No_ , instead she had to bother him about who he chose to hold hands with when under duress. Skin to skin contact was currently the only known method of keeping White pliant; he’d be an idiot to not take advantage of that in emergencies.

Pink – for some likely moronic reason – wanted him to capitalize on that vulnerability in a completely different way. Black had adamantly refused. He was a medical officer, not a honeypot for aliens. If Pink wanted someone on the ship to seduce imposters, she could do it herself.

He turned away from the captain in frustration when she signed another horrendous pun only to see Brown choking on the water he’d given her. Again. Filling a cup with ice chips, he swapped it out with the one she was holding. He should’ve just given her ice like he’d wanted to in the beginning instead of caving to her demands for liquids. She always ended up forgetting that she couldn’t drink and breathe at the same time.

At least White was sitting unobtrusively, though they were bouncing their leg rapidly. That reminded him of the scans he’d intended to run on them. No time like the present. Measuring the volume of his voice by the vibrations in his throat, Black said, “I need you to stick around, White. I want to run some scans on your neurochemicals.”

The he turned to the abandoned body bag without waiting for an answer. Without his hearing aids in, he wouldn’t be able to understand it anyway. And dead bodies never complained about getting scans done, making them preferable.

Once he’d managed to drag the body over and into the freezer, Black retrieved a handful of packaged swabs. He needed a sample from every mouth on this thing in order to develop a baseline antibiotic. Brown was going to need one despite his efforts to sanitize her wounds. Six swabs later, he’d inserted them into the analysis machine and turned to find White standing stiffly next to the scanner. They were nervous.

Professionalism winning through over his hesitance towards an imposter, Black stepped forward and put a hand gently on their wrist, saying, “Take a nice deep breath for me, White, and relax your shoulders. The scanner can read through your suit, so you can keep it on for the first run. Then, I want you to take one of your gloves off for the second.”

White bobbled their head in a nod and stepped onto the scanner. Their shoulders started hunching up again as he set the machine for a neural scan.

“Remember to relax your shoulders, White,” he reminded them gently, and waited till their stance was loose and easy to hit the start button. The scan only took a few seconds to finish.

“And that’s one down. Glove off, please.”

Complying, the imposter popped the seals on their right glove and revealed a hand with identical claws to the other. Black reached out and clasped their fingers together, ignoring the cool temperature of the other’s hand. White must have whistled again, because Brown and Pink both jumped and gave him startled looks. He ignored the mouthed query from Pink and hit the start button again.

White didn’t let go of his hand after the second scan completed. Pink was definitely laughing at him now. Whatever. It was science time now. Dragging the imposter over to the computer, he let them flop into his desk chair as he loaded the scan results. Scrolling through them, some quick math informed him that whatever alien White was, their neurochemical balance had similar ratios to a human’s.

And that their oxytocin levels were frighteningly low. That explained their extreme reaction to even a little bit of handholding; the chemicals produced were making them high. Retrieving his hearing aids from their charger, Black slipped them on just in time to catch the end of whatever addled nonsense a drugged alien might say.

“–are the loveliest color.”

He had no idea what White was referring to, but said, “That’s very nice,” anyway. Then he asked, “Can you let go of my hand now?”

“Don’t wanna. It’s nice,” came the petulant answer. Sighing, he replied, “I know, but I need you lucid for this next bit, ok?”

They whistled heartbrokenly and released his hand. Black waited a few minutes for White to come out of it. When they finally stiffened in the chair again, he figured they were ready for the results.

“You need more physical contact to maintain your health.”

White’s bare hand twitched back towards Black. He pretended he hadn’t noticed that and continued, “Your oxytocin levels are frankly, terrifyingly low. That’s why you lose focus when someone touches your skin.”

He almost couldn’t believe he was recommending treatment for an imposter.

“I want you to start with just holding hands with someone for a half hour every day to start raising your levels and acclimate you to the increase. Skin to skin contact. Then we’ll review your progress in about two weeks.”

“Does it matter who I hold hands with?” White asked. That clawed hand twitched again. Black ignored it and shook his head.

“As long as they have a pulse, it doesn’t matter.”

Bashfully, the alien requested, “Can I…can I hold hands with you?”

Pink swooped in then, cheerfully announcing, “That’s an _excellent_ idea! It’ll work out perfectly with your personal assignments too!”

He really should have seen that betrayal coming the moment he opened his mouth about mandatory handholding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little does Black know that he is effortlessly seducing an imposter right this moment, and they've already waxed poetic about the color of his eyes.


	7. Vents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> White needs to consider the diagnosis from Black. They also need to touch base with the other imposter left onboard. The vents are a perfect locale.

It was nice and dark in the vents, though they’d had to ride out the high from their treatment before coming down. Thinking in the dark was productive, and they’d also told Cyan to meet them there secretly. Typically, the other imposter hadn’t shown up yet, leaving White some time to sift through their thoughts.

Specifically the ones about Black.

Brown, when questioned, had described feeling warm and fuzzy as romantic attraction. At the time, they’d taken her word for it and even asked how long they should expect to wait for Black to reciprocate. However…the medic himself had said the warm fuzzies were because White was deficient in a necessary chemical, and spikes from touching were making them high. According to him, it was a purely medical phenomenon. They weren’t sure which nestmate they should believe, and once again, they felt like they were lacking sufficient data.

Perhaps they could get some convoluted answer from Pink. Or ask the more reliable Brown for clarification.

The treatment itself was as pleasant as could be, regardless of what they were really experiencing. Even just recalling how it felt like floating on air was enough to make them want to whistle contentedly. But they wouldn’t; noise traveled through the ventilation system too easily. Whispers only.

Cyan didn’t show for another half hour and when they did, White was ready to bite their head off and be done with it. But then they’d get a performance audit. Those were tedious and never worth killing incompetents over. So Cyan was spared for now.

“Lime wasn’t supposed to get caught so soon,” Cyan whispered. _No shit._ Losing an imposter always made the best laid plans implode.

“There’s nothing we can do about that now. Lay low, make some “friends”, and no killing. Two weeks minimum,” White ordered. If Cyan couldn’t follow those instructions, that audit might be worth the satisfaction of eating them.

“What if I have a window where no one can catch me?” the other imposter asked. Ugh. They were still so eager to kill that waiting two weeks probably seemed like forever to the junior agent. They had no idea how much time went into some of these jobs. White had once been on the same ship for four months before they were able to finish off their targets.

“Unlikely, but I suppose you can be opportunistic then,” White answered. Cyan turned away and crawled back down the vent they’d come from. Rude. They hadn’t been dismissed, and White wasn’t finished yet. There was one last very important detail on the docket for this secret meeting.

“Cyan!” they hissed. When the light blue alien paused, White added, “Not Black. He’s _mine_.”

Then they turned and crawled back to their personal quarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but White's officially staking their claim!
> 
> I spent most of today doodling this lovely space quartet. If you want to see some pics of them (taken by my shitty phone camera), I can add them.


	8. Hot Nerd Indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While working with Black in medical, White starts to lay down the groundwork for befriending Brown. Black is developing an antibiotic for his sister and White makes a few crucial realizations.

_Med Bay – White_

Sanitation rounds finished for this rotation, White was now spending the rest of their second day on the _Skeld_ in medical picking up after Black. And asking Brown about the warm fuzzies (she insisted that they were romantic feelings, but ceded that part of what White was experiencing was influenced by the neglect of their health). So they were stuck with getting high off of holding hands with the object of their affections, who had been prickly since the attack on his nestmate.

But hey, they were _holding hands_ already, and that meant Black had to be getting _some_ of the warm fuzzies too. That was a step up from no touching and no fuzzies. Plus, Brown was getting bored just sitting around, and White already knew that amicable relationships with nestmates made coexistence with them easier. There had been an interesting mission where two of the targets were a formerly mated pair and the mate’s antagonistic behavior towards their partner’s nestmate was cited as the reason for the split.

So they ended up running between Med Bay and Electrical between cleanups to retrieve little odds and ends for her to reconstruct her wrist unit with. Every time Black turned around and saw her with something new in her hands, he rolled his eyes at them both but didn’t discourage the blossoming friendship. White counted that as progress too, but they weren’t sure what goal all these developments pointed towards. At least it was better than just waiting two weeks and doing nothing.

When Pink showed up later, Brown complained loudly about how itchy her stitches were. The captain winked at Brown (Again? What kind of signal was that?) before accosting Black at the table where he was bent over several small dishes. The medic grumbled, “You could just tap my wrist like Brown does,” before fiddling with his black ear devices.

“What do you need, Brown?”

“It’s itchyyyyyy!” his nestmate whined, drawing out the word like a hatchling and widening her already large eyes pitifully. Black didn’t even turn around.

“I’m not finished making the antibiotics.”

“Don’t you already have those?” White asked. The med bay was fully stocked. Why would he need to make more?

“None of those are meant to counter the bacteria in alien saliva,” Black answered, dabbing a little bit of one of the mixtures onto a clear slide, “When I’m done with this, it will be the first medication of its kind.”

He glanced over his should and smiled at Brown.

“And it will make the itching stop.”

Curious, White walked over to the table and watched as he positioned the slide under some kind of ocular device. As he looked into it and twisted the dials, they asked, “How do you make a new medication?”

Black launched into a detailed explanation as he started taking notes on whatever was happening with his sample. White understood exactly none of it, having no background in human sciences, but the medic had extensive enough knowledge to be able to monologue on the topic. It was cute. Very cute. They wanted to wrap him up in those soft things called blankets and listen to him forever (and ignore the way that Pink was snickering behind them).

There weren’t any nice blankets in the med bay though, and Black was too busy to be wrapped up, so White just stood nearby as he worked his way through each dish. At length – probably an hour later – Black noticed Pink snoring from where she’d fallen asleep on the stool by Brown’s cot (who was also napping). He blushed and faltered, trailing off into an awkward silence before meekly asking, “Am I boring you?”

“No!” White exclaimed, “I may not know a lot about your science, but I like listening to you. Your voice is very pretty.”

Black went scarlet, which was interesting because he hadn’t done that when White had been nattering on about his blue blue eyes while high. Why did the medic blush for one compliment and not another? It was probably rude to ask that question though, so they let him secure the dishes while they wiped the table down. Then they ended up standing next to him while he picked at the hem of his shirt, lost for words.

Then the floor lurched and Black crashed into them. Grabbing one of the desk legs (which was thankfully bolted down for this exact reason), White scooped Black into their lap to keep him from slipping past them and crashing into the wall. Pink bolted awake with a loud expletive and scrambled across the floor for her sliding helmet, just barely catching it before she was on her way to the door next, cussing out whoever was piloting the _Skeld_. Then she stumbled her way out of the med bay and tripped, tumbling down the hall in the opposite direction of Nav.

Everything tipped the other way next. Brown almost fell off her cot and lost her current cup of ice chips. Pink went screeching past the door on her butt as Black clung to them. His dark hair was rumpled, blue eyes wide. Their blood pounded. The weight of the medic pressed against their legs, the only thought going through White’s head was: _Hot nerd? Yes **please**._

The suggestive whistle that tore out of them was impossible to disguise. It was a good thing that they were wearing a suit instead of mimicking one. The immediate physical reaction to Black pressing himself against them would have been a _lot_ harder to conceal otherwise and _much_ more difficult to explain than any vocalizations. White was pretty confident they knew the goal that the warm fuzzies led to now.

Getting exclusive access to any and all mating rituals that Black participated in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now White is finally at the original characterization I had for them: horny on main.
> 
> It took me forever to figure out how to get images into a chapter, so I might not be able to get chapter nine written before I turn in for the night, but I'll do my best!


	9. Navigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink loses her temper with the resident numbskulls (of the human variety). Then she attends to her duties as captain of the Skeld. Once finished, it’s back to Nav for her.

_Nav – Pink_

“What the _fuck_ is happening?!” Pink yelled, the moment she managed to slide her way into the cockpit. The pilot – Green – stabilized the ship and set autopilot before looking back at the captain sheepishly and offered, “Blue wanted to test out the ship’s guns?”

“That is _not_ an excuse for reckless flying, Green!” she yelled, “You’re grounded!”

“But–“

“No. We have an injured crewmate on board and you needlessly put her in a risky situation. Go hang out with Yellow in Security until I’m done being mad at you.”

Green slouched and meandered off miserably under her glare. Once he was gone, she banged her head against the wall a bit. _Why. are. pilots. always. so. dumb?_ she asked herself in a moment of hypocrisy (she’d been a dumb pilot herself back before earning her captaincy). Pink rammed her helmet against the padded pilot’s chair next so her friends couldn’t get too pissed off at her for destructive coping mechanisms later. Black had never liked her habit of trying to break things with her forehead and Brown hated it when she busted helmets by slamming them into walls.

After she decided she’d racked up enough surface damage to fit the situation (repainting helmets was an easy fix), Pink double checked the coordinates Green had put into the auto pilot. She swore again. He’d added too many zeros to one of them and the autopilot was now directing them to a different star system. Grumbling to herself, she pulled out her tablet and checked the missive she’d sent him when they’d undocked from the station.

It had the right numbers. Green was just an idiot who’d also made a typo.

Pink erased the destination field and entered the correct coordinates. With autopilot now headed for the right galaxy, she left Nav and marched into Weapons. Blue had the chair turned away from her, busy with the interface for the cannons. She walked up behind the chair and yelled, “HEY! GET UP!”

Blue jolted to his feet with a shriek.

“There is a time and place for weapons testing, cadet! You never ask pilots to fly towards danger just so you can have a little fun.”

Much like Green had, the cadet’s posture slouched, chastened.

“You get to shadow Orange in the lower engines and listen to all her horror stories until it sinks in that your job isn’t a game.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“And turn off the cannons before you go,” Pink added, “We don’t need to accidentally blast a hole in the side of the ship either.”

Blue powered off the guns under her careful supervision and then contritely left for the engine rooms. _God_ , she needed a drink. No one was in the cafeteria when she passed through and Admin was empty too. Pink unlocked her office and made a beeline for the secret cabinet where she kept her alcohol. She’d almost poured herself a shot of sake before remembering that her shift wouldn’t be over for another five hours. Groaning, she put the glass and bottle away. Someone had to be a responsible adult on this ship, and unfortunately, the role was hers by default.

Dragging her mantle of responsibility behind her, Pink went through her rounds to check base with everyone. Cyan and Red were both in O2, tending the greenhouses. Nothing horribly wrong there. Orange was chewing out Blue in Lower Engine; the mechanical engineer had almost lost her hand to the machinery when everything went sliding and was lucky to be uninjured. Yellow was taking a break from watching the cameras in Security, having forced Green to take a turn staring at the monotonous display.

Purple was having a meltdown in the reactor. She ended leading the other woman back to medical to get some help from Black…who was standing _way_ closer to White than he usually did. Too bad Purple was in need of assistance; normally Pink would have dived straight into teasing Black and making an obscene number of puns in every language he knew. Black took one look at the reactor technician and retrieved one of the toppled stools for her to sit on. White busied themselves with picking up a bunch of half-melted ice by Brown’s cot.

Brown herself looked disgruntled and half asleep still. Pink sat down on the edge of her cot and asked, “Are you alright?”

Her friend waved a hand around breezily.

“Yeah. Black already ran through the usual questionnaire. I’m just annoyed that it interrupted my nap. What happened?”

Pink groaned.

“You know our cadet? Blue? He convinced Green to do some fancy flying so they could test out the weaponry and evasive maneuvers.”

Brown jaw dropped.

“ _Oh my god._ Really?!”

“I _know_. I’ve grounded them both from their official duties, but that means I have to cover the rest of Green’s shift as pilot.”

Patting her hand, Brown said, “You poor, poor dear,” in a high-pitched, insincere voice. Pink pinched her in retaliation.

“Ok yeah, it’s not that bad a thing,” Pink admitted, “I’ve always like flying.”

She looked back over at Purple. The technician had been given a cup of ice chips and wasn’t crying anymore. The captain quirked a smile at her; she remembered the day Black had learned the little ice cube trick. He’d been so excited to share the new information that he’d accidentally interrupted her date that evening. Which had been fine. A relationship with that lady wouldn’t have worked out and Pink had been looking for an excuse to cut their tête-à-tête short.

Everything was under control in medical then, just like she’d expected. Black had always been notoriously focused on his work even when the unexpected happened.

Nav was empty when she made it back to flop into the pilot’s chair, just the way she liked it. There was something nice about watching the distant stars slip past the windows when alone. This part was much more enjoyable than all those fancy maneuvers she’d had to learn back in her academy days.

She was still staring out into space when White entered the cock pit. They sat down in the co-pilot’s seat and joined her in her stargazing.

“Does Black have a mate?”

Pink couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.

“Oh no, he’s _very_ single.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now they are in kahoots to get Black laid


	10. Love Letters 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week into her stay in medical, Brown is bored out of her mind. With limited entertainment, she ends up joining Pink in her matchmaking. Today’s topic? Love letters.

_Med Bay – Brown_

Black was ignoring her again. Granted, Brown tended to be an extremely annoying patient – and drove her brother to ditching his hearing aids each time – but she was _bored!_ It had only taken four days to finish repairing her wrist unit and now Brown was stuck sifting through Pink’s supply of cheesy romance novels again.

They really weren’t that bad, but Brown had read all of them during their last job. She wanted something _new_. White and Pink walked into the med bay and Brown almost cried in relief. Those two were always up to something.

_Ears?_ Pink signed. Brown shook her head and answered _Out_. Now that Black had finished those sweet sweet antibiotics, he’d moved on to analyzing what was left of Lime. Her interruptions hadn’t been appreciated.

“ _Please_ tell me you two have something for me to do,” she begged as her crewmates approached. White displayed a notebook, the first page covered in an incomprehensible scribble of words. She looked at the captain for an explanation.

”I’m helping White improve their handwriting,” Pink said, flopping onto her usual stool with a wink and conspirational smile. Brown looked back at the illegible notebook. The lessons clearly weren’t going well, but she didn’t want to say anything to discourage their imposter from learning.

Pink giggled and took a picture of her face. _Hold on._ Brown knew where this was going.

“That’s not White’s actual handwriting, is it.”

“It was three days ago!” White announced cheerfully. The captain pressed her face into Brown’s blankets to smother her laughter. Sighing in relief, the engineer watched White flip through the notebook to a different page. She made the obligatory appreciative hum over the presented handwriting. It was much better (even though it looked like it belonged to a fourth grader).

“You’ve improved a lot!” Brown said encouragingly, “What are you practicing for?”

White looked over at Black and didn’t answer. Pink sat up, a little red in the face from her mirth and flapped her hand at them.

“He’s ignoring us,” she said breezily, “White’s going to write an anonymous love letter to Black.”

The idea had Pink’s influence all over it. She was clearly engineering her own space soap opera and Brown wanted _in_. This would be way better than rereading novels.

“Fantastic! Have you written a draft yet?”

White and Pink both shook their heads and the captain supplied, “We haven’t gotten around to brainstorming yet.”

Lucky for these two, Brown had insider knowledge; she’d watched Black fall in and out of love several times in the last 15 years they’d been a family. He gravitated towards enigmas and White already fit the bill. They just needed to up the ante a little bit.

“Rule number one,” Brown announced as White scrambled to uncap their pen, “Do not write about anything you want to do to him. Black _hates_ that.”

The imposter scribbled furiously as she continued.

“Rule number two: If you are going to compliment him or make comparisons, keep it light on his physical attributes. Write about his personality instead. That will let him know that it’s someone he talks to and it will get his attention.”

She waited until White had gotten all that before giving them the last one.

“Rule number three: I get to review each of your letters. English isn’t your first language, so we need to make sure that they’re understandable and don’t have any misspellings.”

“That’s a good point,” Pink said, “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

Brown preened.

“This is way you need me,” she told her captain smugly. That got her a playful smack on her hand. Brown adored impressing Pink, even if the other woman showed affection in a strange way. White was tapping their pen against their helmet on the other side of the cot, looking thoughtful.

“I’ve had a few ideas, but…” White started shyly, “…could I run them by you both first?”

“Go ahead,” Brown said, curious what an imposter would think of as romantic, “What are they about?”

“The way he makes me feel,” White admitted. They straightened their notebook before elaborating.

“I heard a saying once – on a different job – that an object in motion stays in motion. And that’s how I’ve felt for a long time. I don’t know where I’m going, and I don’t know why I keep moving. It just sort of…happens.”

They paused for a moment to tap their fingers on the edge of the cot.

“But…it’s been different since I met Black. He’s…he’s like a–”

Here, White let out an odd whistle. It sounded double toned.

“I think your word for it is a black hole? It’s like I’m passing through his gravity well. I’m not close enough yet that I can’t keep going past him, but I think I want to stay. That it will be worth the risk of getting pulled in too close.”

“Wait, are you like…a star in this metaphor?” Pink asked, “Because if you are, getting to close to a black hole will shred you to bits.”

White shrugged.

“I think I might like to explore what comes after.”

“You mean _inside_ ,” Pink breathed out in awe, “The unmeasurable center. _Holy shit_ , White. That’s _perfect_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came up with the idea for this chapter on my way to work today and lemme tell you, it made me very excited and I had lots of fun writing it.


	11. Late Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black pulls a long shift in the med bay and hasn’t read the delivered letter. When he finally gets around to opening it, the contents surprise him.

_Med Bay – Black_

There was an unmarked envelope waiting on his desk when he returned to the med bay with Brown’s dinner. His sister had waved it off as not time sensitive, so he’d left it there while he delved back into his research. Anything not from Pink could wait until he was done working. But the unknown contents niggled at his thoughts, making his concentration slip several times as he wondered.

_No. Bad Black. Casual letters are for after work._

It was imperative that he complete his studies on Lime. With the high possibility of a third imposter (and even just the fact that he knew about White), Black needed to come up with a chemical formula that would either kill or incapacitate the aliens. He could make darts full of the resulting cocktail and use the air powered dart gun to keep his distance when the time came to subdue them. It was the only gun on the ship, since live firearms were a horrible idea in an O2 rich environment like the _Skeld_.

The problem he kept running into was that Lime was _very_ dead. What he really needed were viable cells from a living imposter, but he didn’t think White would be amenable to donating any. Because of his limited resources, the mixture he’d made so far was just a bunch of different acids mixed together based on how quickly they broke down Lime’s body tissue. Painful? Yes. Lethal? In a dosage that fit in the darts, he wasn’t sure.

He was doing his best with what he had though, which involved working past when White turned in for the night and completely blowing his own bedtime out of the water. It was well past midnight before he finally got frustrated enough to clean up and call it a night. Maybe he’d make some better progress tomorrow, after he’d slept on the problem a bit more.

The little white envelope was also still on the desk, taunting him. Black picked it up, checking the back side for any indication of the sender’s identity. There weren’t any. It couldn’t hurt to read it now that he was finished, right?

He pulled the letter out and read the first line before stuffing it back into the envelope. Black felt his face go red and he hurried into his quarters. Brown was fast asleep in the locked med bay, but the contents of the letter were decidedly private. He needed to be isolated for this.

Once the door to his personal room was was closed, Black unfolded the letter again and continued reading. Whoever had written this for him was painfully earnest with their feelings. When he got the paragraph about the black hole, it had his ears burning and the blush creeping down his neck. None of the love letters he’d gotten in college had been this sincere. Most of those had been shown to Brown so he could complain about shallow (and inebriated) admirers.

On the second read through, he took note of the handwriting. It wasn’t Pink’s or Brown’s (thank goodness; _that_ would’ve been uncomfortable). The letters were awkward and large, but they sort of fit with the tone of the content. It was also unsigned, he realized with disappointment. Black was _dying_ to know who’d written it but asking Pink for samples of each crew member’s handwriting was a) invasive and b) admitting defeat.

No. He’d keep this letter for himself until he discovered his unknown admirer. Love letters like this were puzzles (with feelings attached), and he liked best to solve them on his own. Smoothing out the creases in the paper, he read it one last time before carefully returning it to the plain envelope. Then he tucked it away, hiding the envelope between his mattress and the wall.

This was going to distract him terribly tomorrow.

He also hoped they’d send him another one soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Black secretly a hopeless romantic? You decide.


	12. Morning People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink, the early bird that she is, wants to get a front row view of Black’s opinion on the love letter. The only problem is Black slept through his alarm. Well, that and his unexpected reaction to their customary gossip session about admirers.

_Med Bay – Pink_

When Brown had texted her that Black had slept in, Pink brought a breakfast platter to her friend for the sole purpose of teasing the medic. Except he hadn’t emerged from his room. She couldn’t really begrudge him the late morning; she was well aware that Black was running himself ragged over the Lime assignment.

White had already come by for their daily handholding, but the captain had sent them off to do their morning rounds after waiting a half hour. Black had finally stumbled out of his room about an hour after that, hair fluffy and uncombed over bloodshot eyes. He looked terribly sleep deprived, but at least he’d actually remembered his hearing aids for once.

“Good morniiiiing,” Pink trilled, getting a grunt in response. He must have had a longer night than she’d thought. Brown was not nearly as nice, waiting specifically until her brother was taking a drink to ask about the letter with faux innocence (like she hadn’t read it moments before White planted the envelope).

Black, instead of spitting his water everywhere like a certain engineer would have, merely glared and stubbornly swallowed. Pretending she hadn’t also known about the letter, Pink asked, “You got a letter? Was it another love note?”

He said nothing. Black didn’t give them a single peep, though he did flush so deeply that she couldn’t see where it ended. Pink _gaped_. She made a split second of eye contact with Brown before they both burst out with questions, conveniently forgetting that they already knew what had been in the letter. Black had **_never_** been shy about admiring missives before!

The hearing aids were pulled out and dumped onto the cot before Black downed the rest of his glass and flipped them both off. Then he stalked away to the computer, probably to analyze his late night data collection. _Damn._ He’d hit the no ears limit way faster than usual. Next to her, Brown muttered, “How the _hell_ did White do so well on the first try?!”

Pink wondered the same as she stared at Black’s rigid back. Apparently, White was just as effective at seducing the medic as it was the other way around – provided that Black wasn’t aware of who the other party was. This was both amazing and utterly infuriating. Pink smashed her face into Brown’s blanket and screeched.

This was how White found them when they walked in a few minutes later. They stared at the scene before them, momentarily at a loss until they decided to forego an explanation for holding hands. Pink and Brown watched closely as the imposter pulled off their glove and gently rested their clawed fingers on Black’s arm. The medic finished what he was typing and then turned his hand palm up wordlessly. White laced their fingers together and seated themselves on the stool next to Black.

It was so goddamn _cute_ that Pink wanted to scream again. She would have too, if it wouldn’t badly startle White; they’d learned that the first day Pink had shrieked at how adorable their little pre-treatment ritual had become. She instead spent the next ten minutes whispering rapidly with Brown. The plan didn’t need to be nearly as drawn out as they’d first mapped out and she needed to update the timeline she’d saved on her tablet. At one point, Brown had looked back over at the computer terminal and whispered, “ _Oh my god_ ,” with such surprise that Pink had to look herself.

Black had dozed off, slumping over on his stool and was half sprawled on the desk and White’s arm, their hands still firmly entwined. Pink echoed, “ _Oh my god._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Black needs better sleeping patterns (so do I lmao)
> 
> I can finally play Among Us again!!!! Our WiFi was down for like four days and my phone is old and can't run the game so I've been sooooooo deprived. Normally, I main White and have on the black suit and devil horns. My screen name is Worm. Feel free to say hi if you end up in the same game as me!


	13. Mr. Boddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An embarrassed Black accompanies White on their rounds. Orange proves more observant than previously expected. Together, White and Black make a concerning discovery.

_Med Bay – White_

Black had turned red again after he woke up from his unplanned nap on the desk (and White). Then Pink had dumped his ear thingies into the medic’s free hand and that had been the final straw? He’d snatched the devices and stomped over to his quarters and come back out in his full suit. Grabbing White’s hand (now gloved again), Black dragged them out of the med bay behind him. Whatever the captain had done apparently hadn’t involved them this time.

Well, it was about time for their afternoon rounds, so White allowed themselves to be dragged as far as the Sanitation closet before forcing a stop. Then the two of them continued to Upper Engine, equipped with the cleaning cart. Orange was running maintenance on one of the panels – wires everywhere – but she saluted them with a roll of electrical tape. The mechanic had taken on part of Brown’s work while she was stuck in medical.

“Is the captain bothering you again, Black?” she asked. The medic groaned dramatically (and cutely) before pulling the broom from the rack. Starting to sweep on the other end of the room, Black asked, “It’s been less than a day?? How much has she spilled?”

“Oh, she didn’t spill anything,” Orange said, giving White a thumbs up behind his back, “I just overheard your admirer freaking out with her yesterday about the letter.”

White hadn’t realized they were in anyone’s earshot for that. They had…panicked a little bit after dumping the letter on Black’s desk and Pink had needed to pull them aside to calm them down before they want back to the med bay. At least Orange was on board with their attempts to woo Black.

“So it isn’t you then,” Black said. The mechanic returned to her wires and confirmed, “Nope! And I’m not telling either.”

That made Black laugh.

“I wasn’t expecting you to. Half the fun is hunting them down myself.”

Those words gave White a little thrill. They’d gotten his attention successfully!

“White. Get the mop ready,” Black ordered, cutting through their lapse, “I’m not a charity here.”

They scrambled for the soap bucket, apologizing.

***

The rounds went _so_ much faster with Black’s help, even if he was only with them to avoid his best friend. That was how they happened upon Blue’s bloody and half eaten body in weapons, moments after Cyan had scrambled into the vent. White could see them peeking through as Black knelt next to what remained of the cadet (just legs).

Motherfucker couldn’t even handle two weeks. _Wimp_.

White pressed the emergency button on the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd originally planned for Cyan to eat Orange, but she said no, so I got rid of Human Idiot #1 instead.
> 
> The chapter title is a reference to the Clue Movie. It's very silly and I love Mr. Green. He's baby


	14. Pointing Fingers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue’s death incites panic among the crew, Black seems to be itching for a fight, and someone thinks that White is sus.

_Cafeteria – White_

Pink was the first one to arrive in the cafeteria, Brown in tow. Both women ignored Black’s disgruntled, “Why are you up?” and took seats at the table. The engineer was almost fully healed, and her stitches were out. Even White thought he was being a little over cautious, but they supposed it was because his nestmate had come a little too close to death.

“Why are you pressing buttons, Black?” Pink asked. The medic crossed his arms.

“It was White, actually, and you _know_ why.”

The captain paled just as they heard Red scream over in Weapons. The O2 specialist came running in, shrieking, “They got Blue!!!” Green hard on her heels.

“They got him!” she managed again, voice strangled, before collapsing against the pilot in tears.

“ _Shit!_ ” Pink exclaimed, bolting across the room. She looked into Weapons and White heard a quiet, “Aw, _fuck_ ,” when she saw the body. It wasn’t a pretty sight; they knew there was blood everywhere. The captain returned to the table and would have slammed her face into it if Black hadn’t gotten a hand on her forehead just in time.

“None of that right now, Captain,” he ordered, “You need to lead by example here; stay calm.”

Pink didn’t try to give herself brain damage again, but her expression was painfully tight as the rest of the crew convened. Brown scooted closer to the captain, pressing their sides together. Red was sobbing into Green’s shoulder. Purple, the last crewmate to arrive, asked, “Is everything ok?”

She got a no from at least four people, White included. They were peeved that Cyan hadn’t been more patient, but now wasn’t the time to bring it up. Pink took a deep, steadying breath before she started talking, but her voice still cracked as she announced the news.

“We’ve confirmed that there’s another imposter on board. Blue was found dead.”

The crew immediately devolved into chaos. Pink didn’t even attempt to regain order as she stared ahead, gaze distant. Aside from Cyan and themselves, Black was the only crewmember who appeared unaffected – unless he was having his own freak out silently. White went to put a hand on his arm and ask him if he was alright when Cyan suddenly yelled, “I think it’s White!”

They gaped at the other imposter. The entire crew fell silent and turned to stare at them.

_What??_

_Excuse you, there was no way they’d be that messy._

White preferred sabotaging the oxygen and locking all the doors so the crew suffocated all at once, _thank you very much_. It was way easier than overtly killing crewmates and less risky.

“White was with _me_ ,” Black snarled at Cyan, “Don’t fling any more baseless accusations, or I’ll put you in the tank.”

_The tank??_

Whatever the tank was had the entire crew flinching. Pink sighed and said, “You can’t just put people in a straightjacket and dump them solitary confinement, Black.”

“I can if I say they’re suffering from extreme paranoia and making this bad situation worse.” Black retorted. Pink pressed her face into her hands and Brown rubbed the captain’s shoulder.

“ _Black_ ,” she groaned, “Please stop talking before you make yourself a target.”

“You know I can handle myself if I do, Pink.”

“Just because you’ve managed to kill seven imposters doesn’t mean I want you to add to that number!” Pink yelled, standing abruptly, getting in Black’s face. White’s head snapped to face the medic. He’d killed _how_ many imposters?!

“It’s better that they come after me than someone else!” Black shouted back, taking a step further into Pink’s space, “Brown is _only_ alive because she got lucky!”

The captain backed up, stricken. Brown flinched from where she was sitting and looked away from both of them before saying quietly, “He’s right, Pink. I did get lucky, and even then, I would have bled out if Black hadn’t known I was going to Electrical.”

“Maybe we should look at the circumstances around Blue’s death instead of arguing,” Orange suggested, changing the subject, “Like who found him, time of death, everyone’s location; that sort of stuff.”

Black stepped away from Pink and said, “White and I found the body while doing Sanitation rounds. It was fresh; Blue had only been dead for a few minutes at most.”

“Pink was in med bay with me,” Brown added. None of the other crewmates had been together, but they all sounded off one by one. Yellow confirmed that they hadn’t seen anyone enter Weapons before White and Black had gone in. The closest crewmates ended up being Red, in O2, and Green in Nav.

“Let’s airlock them both,” Cyan said. White wanted to smack them. Did they not know what subtlety was?? Black and Pink refused the idea simultaneously, and the captain said, “We aren’t airlocking anyone just because they were nearby, Cyan.”

Green spoke up next.

“How about we all stick in partners? That way, we can observe each other,” he said, “and if anyone else dies, their partner is the only suspect.”

“But then someone still dies!!” Purple objected, sounding like she was ready to hyperventilate again.

“What choice to we have?” Orange asked, “It’s the easiest way to put an end to this.”

Everyone fell silent again at that. At length, Pink finally said, “Green’s right. We stick in partnerships.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Black and Pink both feel guilty not being able to save people, though they express it differently. Black high key deals with it by putting himself in danger :(


	15. Coping Mechanisms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once partners have been assigned, White and their friends retreat to the med bay. There, the imposter is introduced to alcohol and relationships develop.

_Med Bay – White_

White praised every deity that they knew of – both human and their own – that Pink hadn’t assigned them to be Cyan’s partner. They weren’t sure what they’d done to piss off the junior agent and they didn’t want to deal with it now. The captain had been blessedly predictable and continued backing their efforts to become Black’s mate by pairing them together. Cyan had ended up with Yellow. Hopefully they’d learn how to behave and lay low; the medic was beginning to suspect them.

Unsurprisingly, Pink had also paired herself with Brown, who was now being allowed out of the med bay for partial duties. Both women were glaringly obvious about their preference for each other and White wasn’t sure how they were also as oblivious to each other’s overtures as Black was to theirs. Maybe they needed to do some of this “wingmanning” of their own for their new friends.

All four of them were now gathered in the med bay with several bottles of something Pink called sake, doors securely locked. Brown poured out the liquid into four little bowl-like cups while the captain and medic divested themselves of their suits. As they settled into a circle on the floor, White suddenly felt very overdressed with everyone else in their thin undersuits.

“Come on, White,” Pink said, “We’re all going to get hammered and the rules are no suits.”

“I hate your coping mechanisms,” Black muttered, fiddling with his ear thingies again, “My liver always regrets it.”

“It’s better than yours,” Pink snapped back, “Mr. Street Fighter. How many times have I had to drive you to the ER afterwards?”

“The official running tally is fourteen times,” Brown quietly supplied to White, “but Pink doesn’t know that I’ve driven him another twelve times.”

_What the hell, Black?_

Black went to knock back his serving, but Pink said, “Hold on there, buddy. White hasn’t stripped yet.”

_Crap_. A little panicked, White asked, “Do I have to?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Black said, “It’s tradition. Pink won’t start till you do.”

“Can’t I just leave?” White asked. Pink shook her head, refusing their request.

“Buddy system, remember? You’re not allowed to be alone,” she said, “I’m sure you’re plenty cute under that suit anyway.”

“You can use my bathroom,” Black offered, “if you’re too self-conscious to undress here.”

White all but fled to Black’s personal quarters with every intention of taking their sweet time. It wasn’t often that they had to assume humanoid eyes and teeth. The shift would be difficult to maintain if they became as inebriated as Pink implied they would. For good measure, they also changed their claws to normal human fingernails; it wouldn’t do to accidentally hurt someone either.

Once they were down to a thin set of thermal pants and the matching shirt, White checked their appearance. Blue eyes stared back at them from the mirror. Those looked normal enough, though they’d unintentionally copied the shade of Black’s. Oh well. Baring their teeth, the odd and mostly flat edged human set appeared normal. They still stayed in the bathroom though, until Brown rapped on the door and called out, “We’re waiting! Please come out before Black and Pink start brawling.”

Taking a deep breath, White opened the door. Brown grinned at them and grabbed their hand and pulled them back to the casual circle they’d left. Black and Pink were laid out on the floor, arm wrestling. They looked evenly matched. Pink had a shit-eating grin on her face and she tauntingly mocked the medic.

“Come on, Blackie!” she crowed, “Did you skip arm day or something?”

Black didn’t give her the satisfaction of a retort, opting to pull her arm sharply toward himself. The captain laughed and rolled over. Then she saw White and whistled.

“I know I said you were probably cute, but _hot damn_ , White!”

Then she scrambled to a sitting position and scooped up her cup. Black did the same and they tapped their cups together before both saying, “Kanpai!” and downing the entire contents. Brown sighed and said, “I guess we’re starting heavy then.”

The engineer retrieved the other two cups and handed one to White when they sat down between her and Black. She raised her cup towards White. They tapped the rim of theirs to it and they said, “Kanpai?”

“Kanpai!” Brown agreed. Then she drank her cup much the same way the other two had. White went to do the same, but Black’s hand gently stopped them, saying, “Take a sip of yours first, White.”

They did and spluttered when the drink burnt as it went down. Pink started cackling.

“Now try the whole thing!” she cajoled. White wasn’t sure they wanted to, but it seemed to be the way things were done. It was difficult not to choke on the strange drink, but they somehow managed it with a lot of coughing. Black and Brown both rubbed their back sympathetically and the burn slowly faded into a strange warmth. Once they’d adjusted, Pink wasted no time pouring another round.

This time, White exchanged their Kanpai with Black. All three humans were looking pretty red in the face now, and they could feel the warmth slowly turning into the fuzzies. It was an odd sensation. Black poured the third round and said, “Now we take it slow.”

Pink giggled, hiccupped, and said, “Agreed. Now it’s time for truth or dare!”

Black groaned and said, “Truth.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about the letter this morning?” Pink asked. Every bit of skin that White could see on the medic went a fiery red. Black took a heavy sip of his sake and said, “Pass.”

“Ugh. I hate it when you pass. Sourpuss,” Pink said, “Someone dare me to do something.”

If they were going to have to sit through this, then they might as well be productive.

“I dare you to finally ask Brown out on a date,” White said. Pink went almost as red as Black was. She took drink and squeaked out, “Pass.”

“Sourpuss,” Black said, echoing her earlier sentiment. Brown stared at the captain owlishly before saying, “Truth.”

“How do you really feel about Pink?” Black shot out before White could. Brown looked Pink dead in the eyes and said, “I am _so_ gay for her. I want to date her _so bad_.”

The captain squeaked again and hid her face. Brown finished her third cup recklessly and pounced on Pink, nuzzling closer as she shrieked out a laugh. Black smiled and took another sip.

“We’ve probably lost them now,” he observed. The medic was right. The two women spent the duration of the next few cups snuggling together and exchanging soft words, Pink’s strange game forgotten. White was feeling buzzed and not quite tangible by that point and was sprawled out on the floor much like their more drunken friends were.

Only Black was making any effort to remain sitting, purely so he could hover over White and trace his fingers across their features. His hands were warmer than usual and it felt heavenly. White was content to lay there and purr forever. Above them, the medic asked quietly, “Hey, White? Truth or dare.”

Popping an eye open to see the soft expression on his face, White half-whistled, “Truth.”

“Did you write the letter?”

“Yes.”

Black leaned down and kissed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of cracky, but at least Pink and Brown are getting together! Unfortunately for White, Black won't remember their kiss in the morning.
> 
> Also kids, black-out drinking and fist fights are not good ways to handle your problems. Be safe out there and ask for help if you need it.


	16. Hangover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black remembers Pink and Brown getting together, but not much else of the night before. Pink wants to tease him, but Black uses the Lime project as an excuse. Then he gets an unexpected gift from White.

_Med Bay – Black_

Black woke up, head pounding, in one of the med bay cots regretting the previous night. No matter how much his sister and Pink hated cleaning up after his fights, it was infinitely better than the aftermath of Pink’s drinking rituals. Hangovers sucked.

“He’s awake!” Pink said, far too cheerfully for someone who supposedly got hammered last night. Black sat up reluctantly, glaring at the three crewmembers sitting around his desk. They had a decent spread of the ship’s breakfast options laid out. White was already back in their suit, looking stiff and awkward.

“So,” Pink said as he joined them, “what do you remember last night?”

The captain was holding hands with Brown. _Ah_. That had happened then.

“Just that you two are dating now?” Black said. Everything after that unclear; he’d spent the rest of the evening talking to White? Brown nodded enthusiastically and gave him a thumbs up. Pink smiled widely and asked, “Are you sure that’s all?”

Black sighed. Clearly, he was the only one who’d gone through with getting smashed last night. This happened more often than he’d like. Rubbing a hand across his face, he asked, “Please tell me I didn’t do anything embarrassing.”

From the grin Pink was sporting, he’d done something very entertaining for her (which automatically was not a good indicator). It was too early in the morning for this when he was the only person with a hangover. Black grabbed one of the cups of coffee and White kindly slid a plate in front of him. Taking a sip of the caffeinated drink, he said, “Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it. You know I’m busy with the Lime thing, and it’s even more important that I solve it after what happened yesterday.”

Pink grumbled, but asked, “How is that coming?”

“Not well,” Black admitted, “It’d be easier if I had access to a live imposter.”

All three of them side-eyed White. They squirmed a little bit and asked, “Why do you need a live one?”

“Blood samples,” Black said. White made a quiet whistle as they tapped the front of their helmet before wandering off to the other end of the med bay. Black turned his attention back to his breakfast, ignoring whatever the alien was doing. It was unlikely that White would offer their own blood. He spent the rest of the meal watching Brown and Pink be disgustingly cute; Black was so glad that they’d finally made the plunge for each other. The pining had been ridiculous.

Breakfast and coffee had eased the headache, but it needed to be nonexistent so Black could focus entirely on his current project. Pink and Brown left to do the captain's rounds, leaving him alone with White. Walking over to the medicine cabinet, Black passed several vials of dark blue liquid. _Wait_. He stopped. Those weren’t from Lime. Black picked up one of the vials. Written on the label was _live imposter blood_ in the same handwriting that had been on the letter.

_What the hell._

No one had been in the med bay except the four of them. Black turned to look at were White was now sitting on one of the cots, swinging their legs back and forth like a little kid. They’d seriously drawn their blood just because Black said he needed it?

Well, Black wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Time to get to work.

Actually, painkillers first; then work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Black is so focused on receiving White's blood that he's not even thinking about the letter now that he can make some headway on his project.
> 
> Disclaimer: I know nothing about hangovers lol I'm not allowed to have alcohol for medical reasons.


	17. Dart Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> White starts to get nervous when Black finalizes his poison. However, there’s no time to do anything about it when the emergency alarm does off.

_Med Bay – White_

Black hadn’t said anything about the blood White had left on his lab table. The medic had to know it was theirs, but he’d just pulled out an alarming array of bottles from the chemical storage. Now White was helping him measure out several liquids with dangerous sounding names. For the first time since they’d met Black, White was starting to wonder what exactly they’d gotten themselves into here. Pink had said that he’d killed several imposters before.

Maybe they should start being a little concerned for their safety now that they’d handed Black the answer to his project. It hadn’t occurred to White that the medic would be developing something to poison them, but that was _exactly_ what Black was up to now. _Hhhhhhnnnnnggggg_ but he was so cute when he was excited. White could only drown in the fuzzies and watch Black crow in delight as he discovered a compound that would kill them.

Even more worryingly, he retrieved a case from his quarters that when opened revealed a gun and several darts. The medic started filling the darts with the poison. _Ok_. White shouldn’t have taken that gamble with the blood samples. At least if Black killed them now, they’d at least gotten to hold hands with him. And kiss him. A lot. Though he didn’t remember that part.

Still. Nice memories to go out with.

Black loaded the gun and tucked it into the holster before clipping it around his waist. He wasn’t going to kill them? Then the medic picked up one of the other darts. White backed up a few steps so they were out of arm’s reach. Except Black didn’t attempt to stab them with any of the deadly projectiles. He just tucked them into the little pockets lining the holster belt. Then the medic tapped his ear devices, frowning. He took them out and set them into their little docking bay over by the computer. They must have run out of battery when he’d forgotten to take them out last night.

The lights went red as the emergency alarm blared.

_Fucking Cyan._

Black ran out of medical, White hard on their heels. Orange and Purple sprinted past, the mechanic helpfully yelling, “Yellow’s dead!” as they all headed for the cafeteria. The other partner sets were already there, most equipped with whatever they could find that doubled as a weapon. _Where had Pink gotten a lead pipe??_

Cyan exploded out of the vent, launching themselves at White, maw gaping wide. White let their momentum carry them back before digging their leg into the other imposter, kicking them off. Hissing, White asked, “What the _actual_ fuck, Cyan?”

They hissed back, and several of their secondary mouths snapped.

“I _knew_ you assimilated! It doesn’t matter how many stupid letters you write; that medic will _never_ love you!”

They must have overheard the same conversation that Orange had. At least Black hadn’t killed them when he had every chance to. Cyan stretched their mouth open and charged. White pulled a knife out of the hidden pocket on their suit, bracing themselves.

_Shunk_.

A dart embedded itself in the center of Cyan’s mouth. They kiltered off to the side before collapsing in a fit of convulsions. White turned around slowly. Black was standing there, gun raised, looking glorious. They dropped the knife and held up their hands, but he made no move to reload. The game was up no matter what now. Slowly, White removed their helmet and revealed their face to the crew: black eyes, sharp teeth, and all.

Black lowered the gun. His eyes dropped to White’s mouth as they asked, “You’re not going to shoot me?”

He shrugged.

“You wrote me a love letter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	18. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyan is dead, White gets a smooch (or several), and Pink is on cleanup duty.

_Cafeteria – Pink_

Black holstered his gun and pulled White into a kiss, completely ignoring the twitching body next to them. And the stunned crew behind Pink. She tossed her pipe onto the table. This had ended about as well as it could have. Orange had raised a hand and was pointing at the pair of newfound lovers.

“I was _not_ expecting that,” the mechanic said. Next to her, Purple asked, “Um…White’s an imposter? Are we going to do anything about that?”

“Nah,” she said, “Literally the only thing White’s done has been follow Black around like a lovesick puppy.”

“How long have you known about White?” Red asked.

“Pink, Black, and I have all known since the Lime incident,” Brown said. Ignoring the crew’s complaints about not sharing that information, Pink looked back at their medic and imposter. They were still enthusiastically kissing, and White had started purring again. Black certainly wasn’t shy with his lovers once he got around to it.

“Ok. They’re clearly occupied. Who’s going to help me get the bodies cleaned up?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! I almost can't believe that I wrote all of this in six days lol. The reception from you guys has been amazing, and it's been super rad!
> 
> You guys are the best :)


	19. Drawings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Behold: my space children.
> 
> I love all of them equally, but Pink turned out the best in this round imo.

I'll most likely redraw these on better paper (that's not lined lol) in the future.

Black

Brown (she looks way different than Black because I was getting vibes that he's adopted)

Pink

White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any readers feel inspired to draw these characters, go wild! Be inspired! Chase your muses! You don't have to show any drawings to me, but I'd be delighted if you did :)
> 
> Also, I had to dust off my crusty old junior high/high school DeviantArt account to link these lmao (you're welcome)


End file.
